Luxury Gets a Makeover: China’s Market Rebounds as Gen Z and AI Fuel Secondhand Surge
Luxury is shifting from status display to trust, value, and reuse—especially in China and resale.
What is this trend?
Luxury demand is rebounding around authenticity and experience while secondhand, AI-enabled resale turns circular commerce into a mainstream growth channel.
- Gen Z and millennials are normalizing pre-owned luxury as a smart, values-led purchase.
- AI is making resale easier to price, verify, sort, and personalize at scale.
- Brands are moving from pure retail to hybrid models built on trade-in, resale, and authentication.
- China’s recovery reflects a broader pivot toward domestic spending and more selective luxury buying.
- Resale’s rise forces brands to compete on trust, storytelling, and lifecycle value, not just newness.
What’s the latest?
Zalando and Vestiaire Collective’s alliance is breaking down barriers to luxury resale, merging authentication and convenience for millions across Europe.
How it developed earlier updates
China’s luxury market is rebounding as Gen Z and AI-fueled resale platforms spark a fivefold surge in secondhand spending and force brands to reinvent themselves for a new era of experience-driven, di
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